The official announcement is below. The U.S. Touring Car Championship looks to have very competitive fields in 2004. Smaller teams have the opportunity to be competitive and run up front, cost-containment rules are in place (so drivers do not have to worry about being outspent instead of out-raced), and a respectible prize money/contingency program is in place. The first race of '04 is only 7 weeks away at Cal Speedway on March 5/6. Finish up those off-season projects and come run, be competitive, and have a lot of fun!

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE


2004 U.S. Touring Car Championship Schedule and Preview

By Raymond Brenneman

The upcoming 2004 U.S. Touring Car Championship (USTCC) season looks to be filled with new competitors, many new venues, some very exciting developments within the series, and more of the close, action-packed racing that USTCC competitors and fans alike have come to expect.

One of the most exciting developments in USTCC is the addition of east coast races for 2004. An innovative championship structure allows teams to count seven races of their choice out of the total fourteen events towards the national championship. This allows smaller-budget teams the opportunity to run only the races nearest to them and still compete for the national title while also allowing other teams the chance to pick and choose events across the country at which they feel they will be most competitive. As always, USTCC will compete at some of the most coveted tracks in North America including Mid Ohio, Sears Point, Road America, Summit Point, Mont Tramblant, Road Atlanta, California Speedway, Portland International, and more.
The complete 2004 schedule is as follows:


DATE VENUE LOCATION

Mar 6-7 California Speedway (long course) Fontana, CA
Apr 2-4 Mid-Ohio Lexington, OH
Apr 3-4 Buttonwillow Raceway Buttonwillow, CA
Jun 4-6 Portland Intl Raceway Portland, OR
Jun 5-6 BeaveRun Motorsports Complex Big Beaver Borough, PA
Jun 19-20 Road Atlanta Braselton, GA
Jul 10-11 Summit Point Raceway Summit Point, WV
Aug 7-8 Pacific Raceways Seattle, WA
Aug 20-22 Mid-Ohio Lexington, OH
Sep 11-12 Infineon Raceway Sonoma, CA
Sep 24-26 Circuit Mont Tramblant Mont Tramblant, Quebec
Oct 23-24 Infineon Raceway Sonoma, CA
Oct 29-31 Road America Elkhart Lake, WI
Nov 13-14 Thunderhill Raceway Willows, CA

The 2004 USTCC season will again benefit from major sponsorship interest from highly respected companies such as Toyo Tires, Konig Wheels, KAAZ, Advanced Clutch, Fluidyne, Castrol Syntec, AEM, Denso, Apex Integration, 300 degrees, Mini USA, Ground Control, Ford, Honda, Permatex, Honda Auto Parts, Speedtoys.com and many others. The total cash and contingency prize value for the 2003 season exceeded $90,000.

The U.S. Touring Car Series was formed in 2000 and has grown today to become one of the leading professional road race series in North America. USTCC features popular sport sedan and sport compact marques such as BMW, Audi, Honda, VW, Toyota, Ford, Dodge, and Mini among others. The rules allow for highly-prepared chassis, suspension, and aerodynamics while restricting engine internal modifications and transmissions to stock configuration to contain cost for competitors.

For more information on the U.S. Touring Car Championship or to obtain the complete rulebook, please visit http://www.ustcc.com or contact the series director, Ali Arsham at (510) 222-2601 or ali@ustcc.com

 

Cool. A date at Seattle

 

Hmmm....Seems some ICSCC issued fines will have to paid before the entire field can run at either the Portland or Seattle dates. NASA doesn't seem to repsect the reciprocal agreements regarding driver infractions.

It'll be nice to have them back to fill out our lightly populated Group 4 running as ITE.

 

Wow, that is incentive to leave my car alone with the B16 and run in the Seattle race. I guess it would be for fun more than anything, as it would be out of class racing.

 

Nothing says you can't run it with the single stick .